The Slytherin Way
by KathAdrian
Summary: Severus Snape decides to use his Slytherin skills to win Hermione's heart. What happens when Ginny begins to meddle? Who knows, maybe the Gryffindor way isn't that bad... SSHG, please R&R, Rated T for minor swearing.


Hi everyone!

Ok, I know I said writing in english was really difficult for me, but I just can't help it. Everything just sounds better when written in english^^

I know some of you are waiting for the update of my other story, but I promise you there won't be any delay. I'll update tomorrow, as planned.

Now for this story: I'd had a few ideas for SSHG stories over the past few weeks and finally came up with this one. Severus decides to use his Slytherin skills to win Hermione's heart. What happens when Ginny gets in the way?

Read to find out!

(Oh and sorry if you got several alerts for this story, I just noticed a few spelling mistakes in my text after having uploaded it)

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I'm not english speaking (Gods, if I had a dollar for each time I've had to say this), so any clumsiness in the writing is all my fault.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I make any money writing this.

A/N: Thank you to my beta : emsslovesronalways.

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The Order of the Phoenix's Headquarters was still put to good use, even two years after the war. Of course, it depended on what you would call 'good use'. Many followers of the Light came around from time to time, some to enjoy each other's company, others because they had nowhere else to go. The two young women often met there for the first reason, Severus Snape, on the other hand, sometimes hang around for the latter.

Even after Dumbledore's portrait had cleared him for his crimes during the war, he still was the same unpleasant, snarky old bastard he had always been. Add to his sour disposition his criminal record and you'll understand why the man couldn't find a proper job. Not that he would complain though, he felt he had deserved it all and he accepted people's contempt. However, there was still one witch who always was polite – if not pleasant – to him: Hermione Granger.

Now, he didn't know what to make of her. Their uneasy relationship had blossomed into a friendship he valued before everything else. He felt that, at last, somebody had found the courage to get to know him and still accepted him as he was. Why she was always so nice to him, he would never understand, but he felt glad she was. Now that the war was over, he had nothing worth waking up for in the morning, except this scrap of a woman. He wouldn't have thought it possible, but this witch's friendship had meant more to him than Lily's, because she had succeeded where the red-haired teenager had failed: accepting him for the person he truly was.

However, he now felt her friendship wasn't enough. He had tried to talk himself out of it; he had used all the possible reasons why he shouldn't lust after her: She was his former student, she was twenty years younger than he was, she was still pure – although he didn't think she would still be able to wear white at her wedding – and he was a broken wizard. She was beautiful when he was downright ugly, he was cunning when she was always upfront. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to let her go, he felt she was perfect for him in every way and he fully intended to make her see just how much.

He would use his Slytherin assets to show her he could be everything she was looking for in a man. He saw the Weasley girl enter the house and silently followed her in the living room where he knew Hermione was waiting. He sneaked up behind Miss Weasley and hid just outside the door. Ginny hugged her friend and told her everything she had heard in the past few days, including every detail of her upcoming wedding to The-Boy-Who-Lived-To-Make-Severus'-Life-Miserable. After what seemed like hours of insanely dull chit-chat, the two women finally got to the point, oblivious to the fact that they were being spied upon.

"So Hermione, I've found the perfect man for you!" Ginny almost shrieked in her excitement.

The brunette let out a sigh. It seemed that her friend's favorite game was not over yet.

"Perfect like the last one? Or do I at least need to meet him to find out?"

"Come on! Thomas wasn't that bad! And you can't just sit around waiting for prince charming, can you? I'm just trying to help you sweetie... You know... since... er-"

"Since Ron's getting married?" Hermione offered. "I've already told you I don't care about that. He's my friend, and he always will be, but we're just not meant to be."

_That's the understatement of the century_, Severus thought.

"If you say so," Ginny replied, apparently still unconvinced. "But you still need to go on that date."

"And why would I need to do that?" Hermione snapped. "Am I so unlovable that you need to set me up with every wizard you have the misfortune to encounter? Can't you let me choose for myself?"

The Weasley girl put a reassuring hand on her friend's arm and gave her a soft smile.

"You know that's not what I meant." She whispered in a soothing voice. "But you know as well as I do that you don't take the time to look for this man, and I just want you to be happy."

"And you don't think I could be happy with my work and my books?" Hermione chuckled.

"I'm simply saying you would be happier with a man." The redhead grinned.

"Yeah, well..." She sighed. "I guess it's worth a shot."

The Weasley girl now looked as if Christmas had come early. She jumped to her feet and began pacing furiously. "Awesome! So, Justin. The thing you need to know about him..."

But Severus had stopped listening. So Hermione had accepted to go on a date, had she? That made things a bit more difficult, but he could always come up with a solution. He quickly wrote down the time and the place of the date and stalked out, his black robes billowing in his wake.

* * *

"Alone Hermione?" Severus drawled as he walked up towards her table later that night.

Hermione's eyes shot up at the sound of his voice and she gave him a small smile.

"I guess so."

"Do you mind if I sit down? I had planned on eating here anyway."

"Not at all, do sit down." Hermione whispered.

Severus sat in silence, blessing his abilities at Confundus charms. The idiot had been fairly easy to hex.

"So what are you doing here, on your own?"

"I could ask you the same question you know." She answered, a small smile playing on her lips.

"You could. But that wouldn't answer mine." Severus drawled.

"Well... it's kind of embarrassing, really." Hermione murmured, feeling herself blush a bit. "I was supposed to be on a blind date. Ginny's idea." She suddenly added.

"So, where's the man?"

"I wouldn't know. He didn't show up." She admitted.

She looked up and was surprised to notice that the smirk she had expected to see wasn't there. Severus' expression only showed a mix of shock and anger.

"His loss then." The Potions Master simply replied as he raised his drink.

Hermione gave him a warm smile, thinking that this evening could have been far worse indeed.

* * *

"I'm sorry Hermione!" Ginny apologized for what seemed to be the hundredth time in the last ten minutes.

"I get that Ginny. But what will you have the next one do? Throw up on me?"

"Of course not. Look, Justin was an idiot, I'll give you that. But they won't all have to be like him, I promise you!"

"I know." Hermione whispered. "I'm just sick of it all. Why can't you just drop it?"

The redhead kneeled in front of the sofa and took her friend's hand in her own.

"Because I know there's someone out there who's just right for you. I just need time to find him. And with each date, you get a little bit closer to finding him."

"It does sound logical." Hermione sighed. "Just give me a few days, ok? Being stood up isn't exactly my idea of fun, even if the night turned out to be quite pleasant."

Ginny arched an eyebrow but Hermione refused to say anything more. The redhead finally gave up, wondering who could be a good match for her best friend.

* * *

_A week later._

Severus was lurking in the shadows, close enough to hear every word of the women's conversation, a small smile on his lips.

"Are you completely insane?" Hermione yelled hysterically.

"Ok, I get it, you're mad."

"Mad doesn't even begin to cover it Ginny! You set me up a bloody Quidditch player! Had I wanted to hear about that blasted sport, I'd have started dating Ron a while ago!"

"What's so wrong about Quidditch?" Ginny asked, visibly offended.

But when she saw the glare Hermione was shooting in her direction, she looked down and shook her head.

"Ok. Not the point. But he's nice, and he has a gorgeous ass! Even you have to admit it!" Seeing her friend's shocked expression, Ginny grinned. "What? Just because I'm engaged to Harry doesn't mean I can't look."

"All right. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"Come on! You're such a stick in the mud sometimes."

"Why? Because I actually want to date someone I have something in common with?" Hermione snapped. However when she saw Ginny's pained expression, she immediately felt bad. "Look, you and Harry are perfect for each other, but you have to admit that I'm not attracted to the same kind of man as you are, that's all."

"Now we're talking!"

_And here she goes again..._

"Playing Quidditch isn't a flaw and you know it."

"Yes but having it as your only topic of conversation is." Hermione argued.

"All right, let's look at this objectively. What was wrong with him, exactly?"

"You remember the look on Ron's face every time I would talk about my homework in school? He looked as if he were about to go fetch his dictionary each time I opened my mouth?"

"Yeah. That was great." The redhead grinned.

"It wouldn't be if you had to face it for an entire evening." Hermione answered coldly.

"Oh."

"I just want someone who can actually understand what I'm interested in. Is that so difficult?"

"I guess n-" Ginny shut her mouth when she saw Severus Snape entering the room, looking every bit as snarky as he always had. "Hello Professor. Mione, I'll catch up with you later!"

And with that, she literally fled the room. Hermione glared at her but Ginny ignored it and rushed up the stairs. Severus smirked at the young witch and came to sit beside her on the couch.

"She remembers her years at Hogwarts then."

Hermione lightly poked him on the arm and smiled. "She'll get over it one day; she just needs to get to know you."

"I have to say, if this is her way of doing it, her technique needs revising." He drawled.

Hermione chuckled a bit before bursting out laughing. She couldn't believe it had taken her all this time to realize that Severus had a sense of humour. And a pretty good one at that. Once she had calmed down, Hermione looked right into Severus' eyes and felt captivated by his gaze. She had never noticed how black his eyes were... They were beautiful. She forced herself to blink and tore her gaze away from his face, willing herself not to blush.

"Does it bother you?" He suddenly asked. "That your friends still fear me?"

Hermione noticed a flicker of hurt in his eyes and felt that if the situation bothered someone, it was him. She gave him a reassuring smile and placed her hand on his thigh.

"Their loss."

For a moment she thought she saw him smile, but it disappeared so quickly she wondered if she hadn't only dreamed it.

"So, did you get a chance to read the new Potions Monthly?" Severus asked, earning a sincere smile from the Gryffindor Princess.

In the middle of the staircase, Ginny had watched the entire encounter. She noticed that Professor Snape hadn't tried to remove Hermione's hand from his leg, and a small smile graced her lips as she thought that there definitely was someone right for her friend.

* * *

Ginny watched the two of them chatting on the couch and felt the need to speed things up a bit. Being subtle was not her speciality – after all, she was no Slytherin – but she was determined to do her best. Subtlety was overrated anyway. She rushed down the stairs and entered the living room, smiling to the both of them.

"Professor Snape, Hermione." She greeted them as she stood before her friend. "Would you mind sitting next to Professor Snape so I can sit here?"

Hermione shot her a questioning look but obliged her anyway. She didn't know where Ginny was going with this, but she sure didn't like the sparkle in her eyes. She was up to something.

The ginger girl sat down, forcing Hermione to slightly brush Severus' thigh with her own. Though she didn't understand its reason, Hermione felt a shiver run down her spine and her heartbeat quicken a bit. She turned towards Ginny to conceal her uneasiness but her friend simply winked at her.

_Ok, what was that about?_

"Professor, I wanted to ask you something." Ginny said, turning to face her former teacher. "Are you a Quidditch fan?"

"Er... well, not really, Miss Weasley." He frowned before giving her a smug look. "I only went to the Hogwarts' games to piss Minerva off if Slytherin won."

Hermione laughed at that and Ginny knew her instincts had been spot on. There was definitely something going on between those two, whether they admitted it or not. But somehow, she felt that the Potions Master knew exactly what she was playing at and since he didn't seem to mind, she decided to take things a little bit further.

"That's just li-"

"AAAH!" Ginny's yell interrupted Hermione.

The redhead jumped on the couch towards her friend, pushing her firmly against Severus. Hermione found herself flushed against his chest and found that she quite enjoy the feel of it. She took a deep breath to inhale his scent and forgot about Ginny's screaming.

_Did she just sniff me?_ Severus wondered with a raised eyebrow.

But before he could even ask her what she was doing, Ginny had got up to her feet.

"Sorry, I thought I had seen a spider." She shrugged.

Hermione looked at her friend in complete shock as she walked out of the room. Just as she reached the doors, she turned back to look directly into Severus' eyes and winked at him.

* * *

_A few days later._

Hermione entered the library looking for some peace and quiet. Honestly, she loved the boys but they just couldn't understand the word 'silence'. She closed the door behind her and was on her way to the bookshelf when she noticed she wasn't alone in the room.

"Severus?"

He looked up from his book and nodded to her. Hermione stood very still for a few moments, not quite sure as to what she should do. The whole 'spider-incident' had given her a lot to think about. She had never noticed how fit Severus was, until Ginny had shoved her against his chest that is. But now, it seemed to be all she could think of.

"I won't charge you for sitting down you know." Severus smirked.

Hermione blushed a little realizing she'd not moved for at least a few minutes. Forcing her confusing thoughts out of her mind, she grabbed the first book she could land her hand on and took a seat. She opened it and tried to read but soon got the feeling that she wouldn't be able to focus. Not on her reading anyway. Her gaze seemed to be drawn to the man sitting just a few feet away.

For the first time, she took the time to actually look at him. She knew he was not considered a handsome man, but she couldn't for the life of her understand why. Sure, his nose was huge, but somehow she found it looked good on him. He had sharp features and shoulder-length black hair covering his face. But even without being able to see them, she could picture his deep ebony eyes. Those beautiful eyes... She snapped out of her reverie when she remembered the last time she'd allowed herself to loose herself in his contemplation.

_Merlin, I can't believe I actually sniffed him. God, I hope he didn't notice!_

Severus looked up and caught her eyes. She instantly looked away and hoped the darkness would hide her burning cheeks. She felt Severus' gaze focus back on his book and cleared her throat.

"Severus?" She saw he had stopped reading and figured he was waiting for her question. "I was wondering... Do you really not like Quidditch?"

Severus smirked when he remembered her little chat with the Weasley girl the other day. Considering her lack of interest in the sport, his answer was obvious.

"Not really, no."

"I mean, you wouldn't... you wouldn't drag someone to a Quidditch game every other Saturday?"

"Certainly not. I usually spend my Saturdays reading or brewing..."

_Hey, so do I!_

"... Why do you ask?" He smirked, knowing full well the reason behind her inquiry.

"Oh...er... No reason." She stuttered, smiling behind her book.

* * *

Severus entered the living room at Grimmauld Place to find Hermione pacing furiously. He approached carefully, trying not to get too close just in case she attempted to punch whoever came near. He cleared his throat and Hermione abruptly turned to face him. Her expression softened when she saw who it was.

"Is there a problem?"

"What? Oh, no, no." Hermione sighed. "Well I guess not."

Severus simply arched an eyebrow and smirked. She knew lying wasn't an option.

"It's Ginny. To be honest she's really starting to frighten me. She just wanders about, grinning like mad. It's even worse than after her first time with Harry!"

"I really didn't need so much detail, Hermione."

"Right." She giggled. "Every time I ask her what she's so happy about, she simply says 'You'll find out eventually' and leaves. She's even got Albus' twinkling eyes and all."

Hermione stifled a laugh when she saw Severus shiver at the memory. That look probably haunted his nightmares.

"Do you think she's up to something?" He smirked.

"Yes, and I'm afraid I already know what this is all about. Oh god, she will never stop trying to set me up. Can't she understand I can choose for myself?"

Hermione looked up when she saw Severus black robes mere inches from her. She stared at him, wondering when the hell he had come so close to her.

"And who would you choose then?" He whispered.

Hermione was shocked to see how serious his expression was. Although his face seemed emotionless, there was something in his eyes Hermione had never seen before. She opened her mouth but couldn't form the words her mind was shouting.

"I...er..." She stuttered.

"Sorry I'm late, but Ha-" The Weasley girl shut her mouth as soon as she entered the room.

Severus quickly looked away and turned on his heels to leave the room. As he passed by the redhead, she smirked and whispered : "Sorry I interrupted. I'll make it up to you."

He simply frowned and left, cursing the meddling girl and her bad timing. Ginny walked towards her friend and hugged her before taking a seat.

"What did you tell him?" Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing." Ginny grinned evilly.

* * *

_Another blind date! I really can't believe her; won't she ever stop her matchmaking?_

Hermione felt a little awkward about being there. Ginny hadn't told him anything about the man she was supposed to meet, and to be honest, she really didn't want to date anyone right now. Well... she did want to date someone, but she doubted the redhead would ever think of setting her up with Severus.

She had begun to see him in a whole other light these past few days. Why did he have to be so damn attractive? Shit, was she in trouble. Anyway, this date was plain ridiculous, even if the man was a gorgeous as Alan Rickman **(1)**, she'd tell him to go away.

And after that she would have to come up with a plan to seduce Severus Snape. Easy-peasy. She could always lock him up in the Headquarters' library and dance naked for him. Or try a strip-tease. But oddly enough, she doubted that it would be sending the right message. She let out a deep sigh and saw someone approaching her table.

"Severus?" She almost shrieked, trying to push her recent thoughts of him to the back of her mind. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Miss Weasley asked me to be your blind date of the evening." He smirked.

Hermione watched him sit down, trying to get over the initial shock. When she fully realized what his presence meant, she allowed a huge smile to grace her lips.

"I have to say, for once I'm quite satisfied with Ginny's choice."

"Good." This time Hermione was sure she'd seen him smile.

"That's too bad though, I had come up with quite a naughty plan to win your heart."

"Let's pretend you don't own it already then." Severus answered with a smirk.

**THE END**

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(1) **Yeah I think Alan Rickman is the sexiest man on earth.

So ? What did you think?

It was just a silly idea I couldn't get out of my mind, but I hope you liked it!

I know Severus is slightly OOC but I figured he'd have changed a bit under Hermione's influence. And this wasn't supposed to be anything serious, I just hope it made you smile.

And for those of you who wonder: I didn't plan on writing any other chapter. I think the story is cute with its ending, and I honestly wouldn't know what to write next.

That's about it I think. Please take the time to review, I know it may sound silly, but it's really nice to know people are reading even if it's just to point out something wrong with the story or the writing. Hopefully, I can improve^^

Thanks for reading!**  
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